The statute states that a certificate of release complying with Minnesota Statutes 2012 Sec. 507.403 is effective in satisfying or releasing a mortgage even if “one or more assignments of the mortgage have been recorded.” The certificate must be executed and acknowledged as required by law and contain: the name of the mortgagor, the name of the original mortgagee, the date of the mortgage, the date of recording, the volume and page number where the mortgage was recorded and a statement that the person or business executing the certificate is in fact the current lien holder. Prior versions of this statute required the name of the assignee to be included on the certificate. The new law also allows partial releases, stating that certificates only affecting a partial release must also include a description of the real property that is being released from the current lien.

A certificate meeting the requirements of the statute is considered to be prima facie evidence of release or partial release of the mortgage lien. County officials must rely upon it as such. The statute goes on to say that the filing of a false certificate will not relieve the mortgagor or their assignees from any responsibility and could result in the mortgagor being responsible to the mortgagee for any actual damages incurred as a result of the false recording of the certificate. The new statute changed the effective date from its previous incarnation in 2004 until now with the new statute becoming effective the day following final enactment. The statute applies to all mortgages recorded on or after the new effective date.

                                          Indiana
With House Enrolled Act No. 1070, the Indiana Legislature recently amended current law concerning the amount of time in which a bank can enforce a lien following the final installment due date of a mortgage or vendor’s lien. They also modified requirements for cases in which the final installment payment date is not known. For properties where the final installment payment date is known the legislation gives the lien holder 10 years beyond this date to bring an action for foreclosure. At the expiration of this 10 year period, if the lien holder has not exercised their rights of foreclosure, the lien becomes due and the lien holder loses all future rights to the property.

Under the newly-amended legislation, if the execution date of the agreement is known but the final payment due date is not, the new legislation provides two different time spans for which the lien holder has to enforce the lien through foreclosure.   For loans executed prior to July 1, 2012, the lien holder has 20 years following execution to exercise foreclosure rights. For loans executed after June 30, 2012 the lien holder has 10 years after execution. Anytime during these years the lien holder may file for foreclosure but after these dates they lose all rights to the property. If the execution date and the final payment date are both unknown, the new provisions allow the recorded date to act as the execution date in the scheme discussed above.   At the passing of 10 or 20 years, whichever applies to the situation at hand, the owner of the property in question may ask the recorder of the county that the property is located in to certify that the lien is “fully paid and satisfied by lapse of time” at which point the property is released from the lien in question.

A lien holder can prevent this eventual outcome by taking proactive action. If circumstances allow for it, they can file for foreclosure any time within the 10 or 20 year periods. If foreclosure is not warranted in that time they can protect their property rights through affidavit. If the record of a mortgage or lien does not show the date at which the last installment comes due, the lien holder can file an affidavit with the county recorder stating the final installment due date. This affidavit acts as prima facie evidence and will force a mortgage to be treated as having a known due date giving a lien holder 10 years after the due date to enact foreclosure proceedings or lose their rights in the property. All new provisions of this legislation are retroactively effective as of July 1, 2012.